In many industries, it is necessary to conduct analytical tests on various compositions of matter, such as soil samples. To conduct an accurate test, the soil must be free of foreign matter. To obtain such a pure soil sample, the soil must be separated from any unwanted matter.
To accomplish this, the prior art teaches the use of separating devices having a screen. Small soil samples are able to pass through the screen while the larger unwanted materials, such as rocks, are unable to pass through the screen. Often, soil will pass through the screen by simple gravitational pull. In many situations the process can be aided by use of a power source to oscillate the screen. In some instances, however, the soil sample will remain in chucks that are too large to pass through the screen, even when oscillating the screen.
To resolve this problem, some separating devices include a pulverizing unit that break up the large soil units into smaller ones, that can pass through the screen. Such separating devices are non-moveable with respect to the screen and the matter to be pulverized. In use, the matter must be somehow introduced into the area where the stationary pulverizing unit will act upon it. In use, large soil units may avoid the pulverizing area and defect the purpose of the apparatus.
Further, even within the pulverizing area, the soil units may avoid being broken up by accumulating in an area between the beaters. To resolve this problem, the device must be shut off and an operator must manually redistribute the soil to enable the stationary pulverizing unit to break up the soil.
Preferably, such an apparatus should be capable of engaging the matter to be pulverized substantially over the entire soil screen. If the matter tends to accumulate in a particular area, the pulverizing unit should be capable of being easily moved to that area without being shut off. Further, such an apparatus should not allow matter to accumulate between beaters. Such an apparatus should also be lightweight and portable to minimize effort on the part of the operator.